Behind the CANDELABRA

Suzuki GSX-S1000

I first rode the Suzuki GSX-S1000 in 2015. It was great fun most of the time, but my lasting memory is the snatchy throttle. I suspect the Hamamatsu engineers had designed the throttle the last thing on a Friday afternoon, and instead of going to the trouble of ensuring its smooth operation they just gaffer-taped an on/off switch where the throttle should be, so they could start the weekend early. Well, they got busted, the throttle was not good.

A couple of years ago I rode the new generation Suzuki Katana, which is effectively a GSX-S1000 with a facelift. The throttle action had been improved with a reshaped twist grip cam to soften the initial pull of the throttle cable, making it less snatchy. Sure enough, it was better (still not perfect), but what I remember disliking then was the new set up of the suspension. It had been changed because the riding position and therefore the weight distribution had changed, and in my opinion it wasn’t an improvement. But it was the Katana, and that name still carries enough clout to shake off little imperfections – there was room